One day, Lian Qiao had just come out of a meeting when her secretary knocked. “President Lian, a Ms. Wu Jin and a Mr. Lian Yanbin are in the reception room asking to see you.”
If she ignored the gossip-hungry look in the secretary’s eyes, Jiang Chan could have believed this was a very dedicated secretary. She rubbed her temple. “Distribute this document and have the planning department prepare a proposal this afternoon.”
“As for those two, leave them for now. I have another important meeting. Let them wait.” Jiang Chan gave her instructions one by one. “Also, send them two cups of coffee.”
Watching the secretary hurry away in her low heels, Jiang Chan returned to the meeting room. She truly did have a meeting. As the head of a listed company, her schedule was extremely busy.
Lian Yanbin and Wu Jin waited in the reception room for more than half an hour, drinking cup after cup of coffee. The secretary’s smile was both appropriate and gracious, yet Jiang Chan simply did not appear.
Lian Yanbin had never been particularly good-tempered. In fact, spoiled by Lian Shuguo and Wu Xiuzhen, he had become extremely overbearing and expected everyone to listen to him.
After patiently sitting there for half an hour, Lian Yanbin could no longer bear it. He irritably tugged at his tie. “I’m going out for some air. Do you think she’s deliberately avoiding me?”
Wu Jin shrank back a little, holding her coffee cup so that her expression was hidden.
The company building was magnificent. The meeting rooms had glass walls and looked very modern. After going to the restroom, Lian Yanbin wandered casually around the building and happened upon the room where Jiang Chan was holding her meeting.
More than twenty people were in the meeting room. Jiang Chan sat at the head of the table. People kept coming forward to explain their presentations. After watching, she offered comments and annotations, while executives beside her occasionally added their own remarks.
In this meeting room, Jiang Chan reigned supreme. Among the crowd, anyone would notice her first.
“Envious, aren’t you?” At some point, Wu Jin had come too. She stopped beside Lian Yanbin and looked bleakly at the radiant Jiang Chan.
Even the slightly older executives were especially modest before Jiang Chan, putting away every trace of arrogance.
“What’s there to envy?” Lian Yanbin stubbornly denied it. But was he truly not envious? Watching Jiang Chan direct affairs in the meeting room, didn’t he want such a life too?
The two watched outside the meeting room for ten minutes or so. Wu Jin suddenly looked up. “I’m going back to the reception room. Stay and watch as long as you like.”
The longer she watched, the more clearly Wu Jin could see the gap between herself and Jiang Chan.
Half an hour later, Jiang Chan finally finished dealing with her work. Watching the executives file out, she relaxed her brow. Two meetings back to back had taken considerable mental effort even for her.
Jiang Chan sat opposite Lian Yanbin and Wu Jin. “Sorry. You came without warning, and I had two important meetings. I’ve kept you waiting.”
Lian Yanbin snorted. Wu Jin forced herself to speak. “We should be the ones apologizing. We came too suddenly.”
Jiang Chan lowered her head and took a sip of tea. “What have you come for?”
Wu Jin hesitated, then spoke. “Could you go back and see Mom and Dad? They miss you, and they really regret what happened.”
Jiang Chan’s fingers paused on the rim of her cup. She suddenly looked up with a smile. “Are they unwell? If so, they should go to the hospital. I’ll cover all their medical expenses.”
Wu Jin hurriedly shook her head. “No, no. It’s just that after your interview aired, Mom and Dad were very upset. Mom has cried many times at home. They really regret it. Please go back and see them.”
“There’s no need. I’m very busy and have no time to act out a loving father and dutiful daughter scene with them. If they regret it now, what were they doing back then?”
Lian Yanbin could no longer hold back. He stood and roared, “Lian Qiao, are you really so coldhearted? They’re your biological parents. How can you ignore them like this?”
Jiang Chan remained perfectly calm. “Don’t they have you two stepchildren, who matter more than their biological daughter? Whether I go makes no difference. Besides, they gave birth to me, but did they have my consent? I’m still aggrieved that they brought me into the world without asking me.”
Wu Jin’s face burned. She had known Jiang Chan would react this way. In fact, she might understand Jiang Chan better than anyone else in the Lian family. She knew this was someone who would not change her mind once she had made a decision.
Since Jiang Chan had refused to go home even when things were so difficult, naturally, now that she was successful, she would not spare the Lian family another glance.
But the atmosphere in the Lian home was so oppressive now that Wu Jin had no choice. She could only cling to this faint hope that Jiang Chan might go back and see the older couple.
“You said yourself that we’re stepchildren. You’re their biological daughter. How could we compare?”
Jiang Chan set down her cup. Its base made a faint sound as it touched the table.
“Don’t forget, who was that million for when Lian Shuguo accepted it? If you hadn’t been getting married, would he have taken it? Of course you, his son, matter more to them. How could I compare?”
Jiang Chan leaned forward. “I gave him a choice. If he hadn’t accepted that million, we could still have dealt with each other as relatives. I would have gone back to visit during festivals and holidays.”
“But there was no helping it. You needed to marry and buy a home. By comparison, I, the biological daughter, had to step aside. Do you know how I felt then?”
“Perhaps I’ve been too lenient. I’ve always dealt directly with Lian Shuguo and his wife. But I still have to say this: you two are the ones I hate most. Without you, my first dozen or so years wouldn’t have been so hard!”
Jiang Chan’s voice was cold. Wu Jin hugged her arms as though that could dispel the waves of chill running through her limbs.
“We didn’t want it to be like that either. But they were the elders. There was nothing we could do…”
“Was there really nothing you could do?” Jiang Chan sneered. “Who would rather donate her clothes than give them to me? Who refused to share bunk beds with me and demanded I sleep on the balcony instead?”
Wu Jin looked away, deeply embarrassed. “I was young then. I didn’t know better…”
Lian Yanbin could not stand it. “Are you ever going to stop bringing up the past?”
“Of course not!” Jiang Chan suddenly raised her voice. “Wu Jin bullied me in everyday life. But you? What did you do? From the moment I was born, you disliked me. You never took me along when you went out. Whenever you bought gifts for the family, there was never anything for me. Was I really so invisible, so detestable?”
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